Courtesy photoSheryl Amburgey opened Essa Arts Studio and Gallery in Art 634 last year

JACKSON, MI – A divorce can be a life-changing event in many ways. Painter Sheryl Amburgey used it to her advantage.

Amburgey says her 2007 divorce helped her become more creative. Now remarried, Amburgey opened Essa Arts Studio and Gallery (634 N. Mechanic St., 414-9273) at Art 634 last year.

Amburgey, a former art teacher, is the featured artist at Art 634 for April. She’ll be part of the monthly Second Sunday open house, which will be from noon to 4 p.m. April 14 – a Saturday – because of the Easter holiday this month.

She collaborates with Hazelle M. Designs, also in Art 634, for Friday Quickies from noon to 2 p.m. each Friday, where visitors get a tutorial in creating a quick and easy project of their own.

Amburgey likes to use a lot of color in her work and primarily focuses on abstract nature scenes. She’ll be part of the Merchants’ Art Walking Tour on May 12 and will be the featured artist at In Good Company restaurant on May 24.

Did you show signs of being artistic at an early age?

I always liked art. I had a teacher in fifth grade that had really wanted to be an art teacher, so I think that inspired me to become one. My mom was always very creative. When I was little, she’d make a lot of my clothes, even though I wanted to have clothes from a store. She’s still creative.

What does ESSA stand for?

‘E’ is for my mom, Edith; then ‘S’ is for Sheryl, me; the second ‘S’ is for my first daughter Sophia; and the ‘A’ is for my second daughter Ava.

How long did you teach?

I grew up right downtown in Grand Rapids, but we moved when I was in ninth grade, so I graduated from Rockford. I took a lot of art classes there. I went to Grand Rapids Community College for two years and then Western Michigan University and got a degree in art education. I taught for Kalamazoo Public (Schools) for a while, and then my first husband got a job at Boeing in Seattle. I taught pottery and pre-school art while we lived there. … Once Sophia was born (in 1999), we decided it was going to be too hard to raise a child with no family nearby. So, my husband got a job with a company that had a contract with Consumers, which is why we moved to Jackson. Once we moved, I was a stay-at-home mom. Then, I got a divorce in 2007.

Being a mother of two girls, was it pretty scary going through a divorce?

It was scary. I figured I’d better start teaching again. So I got re-certified, but I couldn’t find an art teaching job. I had turned 40, and I figured if I was ever going to become a working artist, because that’s what I always wanted to do, then I’d better do something about it. … The crazy thing about going through that divorce was it brought out my creativity. Before that, I used to paint what I saw, but then I started to paint what I felt. Whatever was inside came out on canvas. For me, it was a lot of colors. … I feel like I’ve grown a lot as an artist. Opening Essa has been like a validation.